If you haven't tried this stuff, it is AWESOME!

http://www.amazon.com/Evapo-Rust-ER012- ... ust+gallon

You can dilute it for more coverage, a couple gallon in a five gallon bucket diluted up to 4 gallons is great.

Removes rust quickly, it is water based, and it does not attack the metal, only the rust (I'm a chemist, trust me on this one).

See my old thread on LCA's: http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic ... =evaporust

And recently I threw some rusty strut rods in overnight: http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... sort=3&o=2

If you have a day and don't want to wire brush, naval jelly, sand and all that jazz, try this stuff, really. I'm not a paid rep of the company (in fact it is way overpriced for what the ingredients are I'm sure) but it is really a time saver and does a fantastic job at removing rust. I wish I had a swimming pool full of it, I'd dunk my entire car in it for a few days.

brian

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WOW! Are those the strut rods I sent you? If so, that stuff IS amazing! Did you have to degrease them or did you just soak them overnight?

Will this stuff damage suspension rubber components? My brother has decided he wants to de-rust the front suspension and frame rail parts on his Duster but I have already rebuild the suspension and reinstalled all the parts. If there is a way i can de-rust without pressing out the bushings I would be thrilled.

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Keen! What's the chemistry?

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Reed, no, actually I got another set from DD at the same time yours arrived; they had better threads but more rust...as you saw, it was not a problem. You should degrease first, yes. If there is some paint, the solution may help lift it off, soften it. When I did my k frame I power washed it after and that took the remaining paint off easily.

The chemistry, as best I can tell, is that this is an aqueous solution of EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid) a chelating agent (which means it grabs iron oxide, like a crab claw (chelate is derived from "chelae" which means pincers). They add a base to keep the pH above 7 and a sulfur compound to knock the rust out of the chelate and regenerate it. This stuff will do hundreds of pounds of steel before it gives out. No more bead blasting!

Below is the purported mechanism of Evapo-rust. There are other formulations like this, they use a base, a chelating agent and a sulfur compound. I would surmise Evaporust is EDTA plus a thiourea (a sulfur/nitrogen compound, that serves both as the base and the sulfur compound). The EDTA grabs the iron oxide as a chelate, the thiourea reacts with the chelate to form iron sulfate and regenerates the EDTA. It is self-limiting because EDTA will not react with iron metal/steel, only iron oxide. Their mechanism as drawn is incorrect, as one EDTA molecule chelates only one iron oxide molecule, not four. EDTA has four acetate groups, but they all coordinate to a single iron oxide molecule (as shown below), that’s what makes it such a powerful chelator, it forms a hexacoordinate complex with the metal oxide and is highly water soluble. The only reason it gives out eventually is the supply of sulfur compound, I suppose one could add thiourea and get their worn out stuff to go again. You can buy EDTA in bulk really cheaply, but getting the right amount of base and sulfur compound is likely a pain, but doable.

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... 8.png.html

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... z.jpg.html

I use this on any parts that I have a big enough bucket for, I even did my K frame in it using a big plastic tub. I diluted it with lots of water, it took longer but it still did the job.

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... ort=3&o=85

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... ort=3&o=83

Here is my tranny mount that I dipped about 3/4 of into a bucket over night.

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... ort=3&o=98

Brian

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They say it is completely harmless, non-toxic. I'll admit that a few times in a big hurry, no glove handy, I just reached right in and then rinsed my part (and hand) off immediately.

That all said, I would recommend using gloves. The EDTA is harmless, but the thiourea probably isn't the best thing for you. It's OK to rinse your part back into the bucket of stuff, or outside as it won't harm the environment, totally water soluble and breaks down over time.

Sometimes your part will get a black sheen, if you dip, pull it out and then leave it sit. I usually wash the part immediately after I pull it out, dry and paint it. If you forget and get a flash layer of rust, just drop it back in the bucket for a few minutes. You can leave your parts in the bucket as long as you like, it'll stop when it hits steel and go no further. That's the part I really like, I drop a rusty part in there and forget about it. Weeks later, I pull it out and it looks like new.

Brian

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Cool, thanks!

I tried to major in science in college but I quickly learned that I didn't have the right kind of brain for it. Try as I might, I just didn't get chemistry. I acknowledge it is cool and powerful, but I just can't do it.

I will definitely try this out when I get to cleaning up the front suspension pieces on my brother's Duster.

Do you think it would be safe for spring steel, like rear leaf springs?

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Interesting! Sounds like it might be a (much) safer alternative to acid-steeping the coolant passages of an engine block to get rid of the rust.

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i used it on a draw knife i found at a garage sale, it didnt seem to harm it at all, it still holds a great edge and came out clean in about 2 days

Yes, Reed, it'll work with any kind of steel, it doesn't attack the metal, only the rust. Even if you get that black sheen I mentioned it'll buff off.

It's pretty old technology, developed for the Navy to dip battleship engines and such into, so they needed a large scale safe alternative to acids and other caustic chemicals. It's a shame they charge so much 'cause the ingredients are way cheap (somebody is making a killing on this stuff).

Anyway, it's worth it 'cause it works great and it has entertainment value. It's just fun to use because the rust literally disappears, there's no fizzing or bubbling, you don't have to scrub or prepare the part (except degreasing) just drop it in and let those little pac man molecules do their work on the rust. If you see any pitting in the clean part, it's not from the solution eating the metal, it just means the rust had penetrated that deeply. The solution will not stop until every rust molecule is gone.

The only challenge is finding the appropriate shape/volume container for the part in question. For torsion bars and the strut rods I used a piece of 2" PVC pipe with a cap on one end. Stand it upright and fill to cover the part. You don't have to cover the container, if the water evaporates, just add more back. I keep a 5 gallon bucket with 2 gallons of evaporust and 1 gallon of water; I've used it many many times, still works. For the sway bar, I found some 2" diameter vinyl tubing at OSH (I think); rolled and crimped one end with a clamp, worked it over the sway bar, stood it upright, filled it with evaporust so there was no air, rolled the other end and clamped it. Pulled the sway bar out a couple days later and it was rust free. Like I said, if I could dunk my dart in a swimming pool full of this for a couple days it would be great.

brian

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Yes, Dan it'll do that; I think it was designed for that very purpose.

See: http://www.evaporust.com/gallery.html

brian

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Last question- if it only attacks see, is it safe to clean something like an upper control arm with the business in place? Will the solution attack the bushings?

This stuff looks pretty slick!

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Reed,

I know that they use thiourea (I'm guessing this is an agent in evaporust) in vulcanizing rubber (an accelerant), but once the rubber is cured I doubt thiourea would hurt it. The EDTA and water certainly won't.

For the amount of time you have it soaking, it shouldn't hurt the bushings at all. A couple days or so, a week, should be fine. I think maybe if you soaked it for a month or two, maybe it would penetrate the rubber (heck, it might recondition the rubber for all I know).

brian

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I was thinking about plugging the drain holes and pouring it into my cowl for awhile...certainly on my floor pan...

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…but does your chewing gum lose its flavour on the bedpost overnight?

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.